Secure remote control of notification operations of communication devices

ABSTRACT

A network service provider computer remotely overrides and controls user notification settings of a mobile communications device by establishing one or more authentication keys by a server computer for a specific mobile communication device; transmitting the one or more authentication keys to the specific mobile communication device to establish a trusted relationship; responsive to an event or signal requiring overriding of user notification settings, preparing a notification control message including at least one notification control parameter; and transmitting to the specific mobile communications device the notification control message to cause it to implement and override one or more user notification settings according to the at least one notification control parameter.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS (CLAIMING BENEFIT UNDER 35U.S.C. 120)

None.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STATEMENT

None.

MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

None.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to systems, methods, and computerprogram products to securely and remotely modify and control usernotification operations of a communication device, such as the ringtonevolume and ringtone selection of a cellular telephone.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Mobile communication devices are ubiquitous in societies around theworld. In “developed” countries, the pace and demands of a moderneconomy require users to have one or more cell phones and web-enableddevices, such as pad computers, tablet computers, notebook computers,and laptop computers. In lesser developed countries, the wireless natureallows cell phones to be used in a towns and villages where wiredcommunications do not exist, and their low power nature allows them tobe charged using inexpensive solar panels in areas where an electricpower grid is non-existent or unreliable. To say the least, mobilecommunications devices have brought information and communications toevery corner of the world.

It is well known on these devices that the user may select manyparameters for notifications by the device. Such devices usually have aspeaker for audio speech replication which can also be used as anotification device through which “ringtones” are played, and they alsooften have a vibration or rumble device to allow them to provide tactilenotification to a user. Further, a bright light emitting diode (LED) maybe provided to flash in patterns, or to illuminate continuously forcertain notifications to the user. And, a screen may have parametersthat function as user notifications, as well.

For example, a user may select one ringtone for incoming calls fromdevices in the address book (e.g. “known” callers), another ringtone forincoming calls from unknown callers (e.g. not in the address book), andyet other ringtones for other types of notifications, such as receipt ofnew short message service (SMS) text messages, updates from socialnetworks (e.g. Twitter™, FaceBook™, MySpace™, Spoke™, LinkedIn™,Google+™, etc.). Additionally, a user can often on these devices combinevibration or rumble characteristics with these notifications (rumble onall received calls and rumble when in silent mode, etc.), as well asscreen characteristics (e.g. turn off screen when not in use for Xminutes, but turn on screen when incoming call or message is received).

These user notification controls, however, are generally made by theuser directly on the device, and are under little or no control of thenetwork service provider. The control exerted by the network serviceprovider is usually limited to controlling the availability ofdownloadable and pre-loaded ringtones.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A network service provider computer remotely overrides and controls usernotification settings of a mobile communications device by establishingone or more authentication keys by a server computer for a specificmobile communication device; transmitting the one or more authenticationkeys to the specific mobile communication device to establish a trustedrelationship; responsive to an event or signal requiring overriding ofuser notification settings, preparing a notification control messageincluding at least one notification control parameter; and transmittingto the specific mobile communications device the notification controlmessage to cause it to implement and override one or more usernotification settings according to at least one notification controlparameter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The several embodiments according to the present invention describedherein are illustrated by the several drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates the logical processes of a notification controlserver according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts the logical processes of a mobile communications devicethat receives and implements user notification control messagesaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows one available embodiment of a user notification controlmessage according to the invention.

FIG. 4 sets forth a generalized arrangement of components according tothe invention, including a notification control server, one or morecommunications networks, and a mobile communications device.

FIG. 5 illustrates the general architecture of processor-based systemsincluding consumer electronic devices as well as server computers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION

The inventors of the present invention have recognized a problem not yetrecognized by those skilled in the relevant arts. While most mobilecommunications devices provide a wide range of user-settablenotification controls and parameters, such as ringtone volume, ringtoneselection, rumble enablements and patterns, and screen illuminationsettings, there is little or no control over these controls provided tothe network service providers.

For example, if an urgent notification is required to be sent by anetwork service provider to a set of cell phones associated with aparticular student body of a university in response to an emergencysituation, each user will receive the notification according to his orher personal, local notification settings. Some students who arecurrently in lectures or studying in a quiet environment may have theirringers turned off, so they may not receive timely notice of the campusemergency.

The present inventors have realized that there is an unfulfilled need toprovide network service providers (NSP's) with some sort of mechanism,protocol, and method through which an NSP may override the locally-setuser notification settings on one or more mobile communications devices.

Further, after realizing that such a capability could be misused byparties other than NSP's, such as by advertisers, the present inventorshave recognized that there is a yet-unrecognized and unfulfilledcorollary need in the art to provide for security authentication of sucha remote notification override capability to prevent unauthorizedchanges to user's locally-set notification controls.

Embodiments of the present invention allow NSP's to remotely andsecurely modify the user notification parameters of a mobilecommunication device, such as the ringtone or alert tone for a cellphone, SMS or paging device. This invention addresses the problem of anysituation in which a call, SMS message or (alpha)numeric page may be ofsuch a nature that the currently selected notification tone and/orvolume of the device should be changed to increase the odds that therecipient owner of the device is aware of the incoming message. Thiswould be particularly useful in situations where the owner of the devicemight have the device set to a low volume, set to vibrate only, or setto not make any noise whatsoever, but a message of importance should benoted despite the low or zero volume condition.

An additional scenario of particular use of embodiments of the presentinvention is that of a device owner who has become so accustomed to thesound of an alert that they might not notice the notification sounding,or the alert notification ringtone they have selected is either not longenough in duration or irritating enough to awaken them in the middle ofthe night to respond to the device.

Also included in some embodiments of the invention is a method by whichthe remotely changed ringtone and/or volume increase is set back to theprevious settings immediately or within a preset time period.

Another aspect of certain embodiments of the present invention is thatthe remotely-commanded notification parameters change is automaticallyauthenticated without requiring user interaction.

Yet another aspect of certain embodiments of the present invention isthat it's operation is independent of the location of the mobilecommunications device.

Embodiments of the present invention uses transmission of pre-definedauthentication keys as a notification control message or as a part of anotification control message to securely prove identity of the remotesender, and to establish authorization to the receiving device formaking the overriding changes to the current user notification settings.Upon receipt of these credentials, the receiving mobile communicationsdevice initiates a resident function to make changes to the selectednotification tone and/or the volume of the device. In one embodiment,these override settings would be pre-defined by the user of the device,though other embodiments may employ methods by which a specific ringtonecould be sent to the end device or a ringtone on the device could beselected using a scale in which the existing ringtones are analyzed forlength and a loudness/annoyance level. For example, the owner may defineto the device that when a message containing the authentication keyarrives, the notification tone should be set to “really annoying beeps”and the volume should be set to “maximum”.

Alternatively, a default setting may be used which simply increases thevolume, automatically selects a default notification tone to use, orboth. Existing ringtones on the phone might be analyzed by a residentfunction, with a default assigned to the ringtone found to have both thelongest length and the highest overall volume. The authentication keyswhich are used to authenticate the message and consequent changes to thereceiving device would likewise need to be pre-defined to the device bythe user in such embodiments.

Additionally, some embodiments according to the present invention mayalso increase the brightness of the device's screen, illuminate LED's,or both, if any of these options are available in order to possibly drawattention to the device.

Logical Processes

Turning now to FIG. 1, an exemplary logical process for a NotificationControl Server is shown. Such a logical process may be realized as aprocessor executing certain program instructions, customized circuitry,or a combination of processor, program instructions and circuitry.Initially, a user interfaces with a system such as the mobile deviceitself or a web server to create (101) the authentication key pair forhis or her mobile communications device. In one embodiment, this wouldbe similar in operation to the creation of Secure Shell (ssh) keys,although alternate methods such as sending a sequence of characters froma touch tone phone may be employed as well. For this exemplaryembodiment, the authentication keys are assumed to have been createdusing software on a computer system or software on the mobilecommunications device itself.

The generation of keys results in a private key paired to a public key.The private key is used in conjunction with the public key (198) toprove identity when the mobile communications device receives a remotenotification change command as will be discussed in the followingparagraphs. In this example, the private key is stored (103, 104) on acomputer, and the public key (198) is transferred (102) to the devicevia available means.

After initialization of the keys, the Notification Control Server (e.g.a specially modified or adapted computer system, paging server,messaging server, etc.) waits (105) for an event or signal whichrequires special notification to the user with an override of theuser-specified notification controls, such as an emergency message.

In response to such an event or signal, the Notification Control Serversends a message to the targeted mobile communications device whichconsists of the authentication keys and possibly other meta informationas determined by actual implementation, as will be discussed in moredetail in the following paragraphs.

Turning to FIG. 2, the mobile communications device receives (151) theauthentication public key (198) from the key generating source, aspreviously described, and then waits (152) for a notification controlmessage from the notification control server. A function of the mobilecommunications device, such as a native operating system function or adownloaded application executed by the processor of the mobilecommunication device, recognizes this message as related to the presentinvention, and verifies (153) the authentication key contained in thenotification control message (199). If the authentication key does notmatch, no further action is taken, and the mobile communications devicereturns to waiting (152) for the next notification control message(199).

However, if the authentication key in the notification control messagedoes match, the mobile communication device then performs (154) thenotification override functions according to the invention, such asexecuting a native operating system function or executing an applicationprogram by the processor of the mobile communication device. Theoverride actions may include one or more of the options of increasingthe speaker volume to maximum, changing the ringtone via one of themethods described above, and increasing the luminosity of the screen orLEDs on the mobile communication device, if available.

If this is a repeated notification and no interaction with the devicehas occurred (155), the override function may select (156) anotherringtone to use for the next notification, may change a rumble pattern,etc., in order to make a second attempt to draw the user's attention.

According to this exemplary embodiment, the mobile communicationsdevice's remote override function then waits a pre-determined period oftime (157), and then returns (158) the user notification settings backto their states prior to the implementation (154, 155) of the overridesettings. Optionally, the override settings may be maintained.Subsequently, the mobile communications device again waits (152) foranother notification control message (199) receipt.

Turning now to FIG. 3, an exemplary notification control message (199)is shown. Other formats, schema, and data structures may be implementedwithin the scope of the present invention, but the example of FIG. 3should further illustrate the operational concepts of the invention. Amessage header (201) is included to identify the message as anotification control message, apart from other types of messages.

The one or more notification control parameters (203) are stored in thenotification control message. The notification control message is thensigned with the private key (202) in order to indicate authenticity ofthe sender (the notification control server) to the recipient (themobile communications device). The notification control parametersprovide actual values, relative or absolute, for one or more controllednotification settings, such as “set volume to maximum” (absolute) or“set volume 5 higher than current setting” (relative). A controlparameter also might include “select ringtone #8”, or “set screenbrightness to maximum”, or “flash screen at full brightness”, asdescribed in the foregoing paragraphs.

Optionally, the notification control message (199) may also includenotification data (204), such as metadata. In this area of the message,an actual ringtone could be carried, such as a digital audio file. Thedigital audio file could be a series of tones, sounds, or both, whichelicit immediate attention, such as a Klaxon™ siren, or could be a voicerecording containing an audible message, such as “Alert! Alert!Emergency message.”

Finally, the exemplary message has a footer or closing section toindicate the proper end of the message, so that the message recipientcan be certain that the entire message has been received. Such a footeror closing may include, for example, a checksum value so that bit errorsin transmission of the message might be detected.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an arrangement (300) of components according toat least one embodiment of the invention is shown, in which aNotification Control Server (302) is provided with a microcomputer withtangible, computer-readable memory devices (RAM, ROM, etc.), optionaldata storage drives, optional user interface devices (keyboard,speaker(s), display screen, mouse, etc.), and one or more networkinterfaces. The NCS (302) is also provided with an operating system andone or more application programs in this exemplary embodiment.

Similarly, the Mobile Communications Device (303) is also provided witha microcomputer with tangible, computer-readable memory device(s),optional drive(s), and one or more user notification and interfacedevices (speaker, annunciator, vibrator or rumbler, screen, LED,keyboard, touchscreen, keypad, etc.). It, too, may be provided with anoperating system, one or more application programs, and at least onenetwork interface.

Disposed communicably between the Notification Control Server (302) andthe Mobile Communications Device (303) is one or more communicationsnetwork(s) (304), such as the switched telephone network (PSTN), acellular telephone network (AMPS, PCS, GSM, Edge, etc.), and a datanetwork (LAN, WiFi, WAN, Internet, Intranet, VPN, etc.).

The Notification Control Server (302) thereby communicates theNotification Control Message(s) (199) and the authentication key(s)(198) to the Mobile Communications Device (303) via the network(s)(304), as previously described.

Suitable Computing Platform.

Regarding computers for executing the logical processes set forthherein, it will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art that avariety of computers are suitable and will become suitable as memory,processing, and communications capacities of computers and portabledevices increases. In such embodiments, the operative invention includesthe combination of the programmable computing platform and the programstogether. In other embodiments, some or all of the logical processes maybe committed to dedicated or specialized electronic circuitry, such asApplication Specific Integrated Circuits or programmable logic devices.

The present invention may be realized for many different processors usedin many different computing platforms. FIG. 5 illustrates a generalizedcomputing platform (600), such as common and well-known computingplatforms such as “Personal Computers”, web servers such as an IBMiSeries™ server, and portable devices such as personal digitalassistants and smart phones, running a popular operating systems (602)such as Microsoft™ Windows™ or IBM™ AIX™, Palm OS™, Microsoft WindowsMobile™, UNIX, LINUX, Google Android™, Apple iPhone iOS™, and others,may be employed to execute one or more application programs toaccomplish the computerized methods described herein. Whereas thesecomputing platforms and operating systems are well known and openlydescribed in any number of textbooks, websites, and public “open”specifications and recommendations, diagrams and further details ofthese computing systems in general (without the customized logicalprocesses of the present invention) are readily available to thoseordinarily skilled in the art.

Many such computing platforms, but not all, allow for the addition of orinstallation of application programs (601) which provide specificlogical functionality and which allow the computing platform to bespecialized in certain manners to perform certain jobs, thus renderingthe computing platform into a specialized machine. In some “closed”architectures, this functionality is provided by the manufacturer andmay not be modifiable by the end-user.

The “hardware” portion of a computing platform typically includes one ormore processors (604) accompanied by, sometimes, specializedco-processors or accelerators, such as graphics accelerators, and bysuitable computer readable memory devices (RAM, ROM, disk drives,removable memory cards, etc.). Depending on the computing platform, oneor more network interfaces (605) may be provided, as well as specialtyinterfaces for specific applications. If the computing platform isintended to interact with human users, it is provided with one or moreuser interface devices (607), such as display(s), keyboards, pointingdevices, speakers, etc. And, each computing platform requires one ormore power supplies (battery, AC mains, solar, etc.).

CONCLUSION

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof, unless specifically stated otherwise.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

It should also be recognized by those skilled in the art that certainembodiments utilizing a microprocessor executing a logical process mayalso be realized through customized electronic circuitry performing thesame logical process(es).

It will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art that theforegoing example embodiments do not define the extent or scope of thepresent invention, but instead are provided as illustrations of how tomake and use at least one embodiment of the invention. The followingclaims define the extent and scope of at least one invention disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer program product for a network serviceprovider computer to remotely override and control user notificationsettings of a mobile communications device, the computer program productcomprising: one or more tangible, computer readable memory devices;first program instructions for establishing a public and privateauthentication key pair by a server computer for a specific mobilecommunication device; second program instructions for transmitting thepublic authentication key to the specific mobile communication device toestablish a trusted relationship; third program instructions for,responsive to an event or signal requiring overriding of usernotification settings of a mobile communications device, preparing afirst notification control message by a server computer including atleast one notification control parameter inserted into a first metadataarea of the first notification control message, wherein the notificationcontrol parameter commands a first overriding change in a usernotification setting of the specific mobile communications device,embedding a ringtone file into a metadata area of the notificationcontrol message, and signing the notification control parameter with theprivate key; fourth program instructions for transmitting by a servercomputer to the specific mobile communications device the firstnotification control message, thereby causing the mobile communicationsdevice to extract a digital audio file from the metadata area of thefirst notification control message, and to override one or more usernotification settings according to the at least one notification controlparameter including employing the extracted digital audio file as anaudible alert message; and fifth program instructions for, subsequent toa pre-determined time period and responsive to detecting no interactionby a user with the mobile communications device, transmitting a secondnotification control message by a server computer to the mobilecommunication device including a second notification control parameterinserted into a second metadata area, thereby causing the mobilecommunications device to override one or more user notification settingsaccording to the second notification control parameter; wherein thefirst, second, third, fourth and fifth program instructions are storedby the one or more tangible, computer readable memory devices.
 2. Thecomputer program product as set forth in claim 1 wherein thenotification control parameter contains at least one parameter selectedfrom the group consisting of a relative volume change command, anabsolute volume change command, a relative screen brightness changecommand, an absolute screen brightness command, a rumble device strengthcommand, a rumble device pattern command, and a ringtone selectionchange command.
 3. A system for a network service provider computer toremotely override and control user notification settings of a mobilecommunications device, the system comprising: a key generator portion ofa network service provider computer system for establishing a public andprivate authentication key pair by a server computer for a specificmobile communication device; a key transmitter portion of a networkservice provider computer system for transmitting the publicauthentication key to the specific mobile communication device toestablish a trusted relationship; a message creator portion of a networkservice provider computer system for, responsive to an event or signalrequiring overriding of user notification settings of a mobilecommunications device, preparing a first notification control message bya server computer including at least one notification control parameterinserted into a first metadata area of the first notification controlmessage, wherein the notification control parameter commands a firstoverriding change in a user notification setting of the specific mobilecommunications device, for embedding a ringtone file into a metadataarea of the notification control message, and for signing thenotification control parameter with the private key; a messagetransmitter portion of a network service provider computer system fortransmitting by a server computer to the specific mobile communicationsdevice the first notification control message, thereby causing themobile communications device to extract a digital audio file from themetadata area of the first notification control message, to override oneor more user notification settings according to the at least onenotification control parameter including at least employing theextracted digital audio file as an audible alert message, and for,subsequent to a pre-determined time period and responsive to detectingno interaction by a user with the mobile communications device,transmitting a second notification control message by a server computerto the mobile communication device including a second notificationcontrol parameter inserted into a second metadata area, thereby causingthe mobile communications device to implement and override one or moreuser notification settings according to the second notification controlparameter; wherein the network service provider computer systemcomprises one or more processors.
 4. The system as set forth in claim 3wherein the notification control parameter contains at least oneparameter selected from the group consisting of a relative volume changecommand, an absolute volume change command, a relative screen brightnesschange command, an absolute screen brightness command, a rumble devicestrength command, a rumble device pattern command, and a ringtoneselection change command.